This invention relates to the mounting of cabinets such as kitchen cabinets, and more particularly to apparatus for mounting cabinets such as kitchen cabinets and to related apparatus to provide for a complete cabinet installation.
Since the early 1950's the United States has experienced a tremendous growth in the home building industry. A very large number of housing units, both the multi-family and single family type housing units, are constructed yearly.
The growth in the home building industry has brought forth many new and innovative building techniques and tools. Unfortunately, no new completely satisfactory methods or apparatus for mounting cabinets such as kitchen cabinets have been devised. In a vast majority of installations, cabinets such as kitchen cabinets are mounted today using the techniques and apparatus used in the past. That is, the interior wall is put in place and the cabinets are then mounted on the wall using screws or other suitable fasteners. In the past, when most if not all interior walls of a housing unit were plaster walls with the wood lathing on which the plaster is spread, this method of mounting cabinets did not present too great a problem. Today, plaster is rarely used for interior walls in housing units. Plasterboard, or other types of wallboard are used to construct interior walls. However, cabinets are still fastened directly to the interior wall, now wallboard, by means of screws or the like. If a wall stud is available, the installer might use the wall stud for mounting a cabinet. However, stud spacing is such that rarely will wall studs be available for mounting all the cabinets; and if it is difficult to locate the studs, installation costs will not permit taking the time to locate the studs. The wallboard, such as plasterboard, generally used today is not really well suited to hold the weight of a cabinet such as a kitchen cabinet fully loaded with dishes and the like. Cabinets have often become loose and there have been many instances where a cabinet has actually fallen, particularly after the cabinet has been mounted for awhile. Steps usually taken to insure that the cabinets will remain securely fastened require additional materials and labor; and therefore, add to the costs of installation.
Another problem present in the cabinet mounting industry today is brought about by the present wide spread use of short cabinets. In order that the shelves of these shorter cabinets can be reached by a person of average height, they are mounted at such a level that a space remains between the top of the cabinet and the ceiling. This space is generally a dust collection area and is difficult to keep clean. To overcome this problem, some builders install false ceilings above the cabinets. This, of course, adds to the costs of the housing units. Very often, when the builder does not close in this area, the owner of the housing unit will enclose this space himself or will contract to have a carpenter do the work. This, of course, is an added expense to the owner.
Another problem in the cabinet installing trade is the difficulty encountered in attempting to provide, where necessary, a spacing between cabinets. The size of a given room may be such that a small or sizeable gap may occur between the end cabinet and the adjacent wall. A much neater appearance is presented if the cabinets extend all the way across a wall without a gap between the end of the last cabinet and the wall at right angles to the wall on which the cabinets are mounted. Not only can such a gap be unsightly, but it can also be difficult to properly clean this area. If two or more cabinets are spaced apart to close the gap, a trim board must be added to close the gap between the cabinets or a trim board must be added between the end of the last cabninet and the wall. Using today's techniques, this is not an easy task.
There are, of course, various methods and various different types of apparatus disclosed in the prior art to mount cabinets such as kitchen cabinets. These prior art cabinet mounting techniques are generally attempts to overcome some or all of the problems discussed above. However, these prior art attempts have apparently not been completely satisfactory since most cabinets are still mounted in the old manner discussed above.
This invention provides the method and apparatus for a complete cabinet installation. The method and apparatus of this invention overcomes all the present problems discussed above. Furthermore, using the apparatus and the techniques taught by this invention will reduce the time it takes to completely install a set of cabinets and should, therefore, materially decrease the costs of installation.